The East Midlands in 2009/10 Final Report February 2011 The East Midlands in 2009/10 This report provides a description and analysis of the condition of the East Midlands in 2009/10 and includes data relating to housing, the economy, the environment, transport, minerals extraction and waste. It has been produced by East Midlands Councils (EMC), a voluntary partnership of 46 local authorities in the East Midlands. The information provided is designed to be useful to local planning authorities, central Government, other public sector bodies, and private sector interests, as well as the general public. The targets and indicators are taken from the East Midlands Regional Plan (March 2009), the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). Unlike previous Annual Monitoring Reports, the East Midlands in 2009/10 does not cover polices relating to RSS sub- areas in any detail nor does it offer any policy commentary. It does outline key statistics measuring progress in implementing the key policies of the Regional Plan and thereby meets the requirement under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 to produce an Annual Monitoring Report covering RSS policies. The East Midlands in 2009/10 2 Contents Executive Summary 4 Section 1 Introduction 14 Section 2 Housing 16 Section 3 Economy 44 Section 4 Environment 67 Section 5 Minerals, Aggregates and Waste 92 Section 6 Transport 102 Appendix 1 Data Sources and References 123 Appendix 2 Boundary Maps 127 The East Midlands in 2009/10 3 Executive Summary Housing In 2009/10 there was a net gain of 12,274 dwellings in the East Midlands, which continues a substantial drop from 2006/07 and 2007/08 figures. The low figure for the last two years means that the average annual provision remains below the average annual target figure laid out in the Regional Plan of 21,517 dwellings per annum to 2026 to an actual four year average completion rate from 2006/07 to 2009/10 of 17,405. 69,619 dwellings were completed between 2006/07 and 2009/10. A further 262,909 dwellings have been predicted up to 2026 giving a total of 332,528. This figure falls short of the target figure of 430,325, however it should be noted that there were a few authorities who did not produce housing trajectories as far as 2025/26. The North East, North West, West Midlands and London had the highest proportions of Local Planning Authorities (91 per cent each) reporting at least a sufficient supply of land for housing requirements over the next 5 years. The East Midlands and the South West had the lowest proportion of Local Planning Authorities (78 per cent each) reporting at least a sufficient supply of land for housing requirements over the next 5 years. During 2009/10 a total of 2,918 affordable dwellings were completed in the East Midlands. A further 159 affordable dwellings were acquired through transfers and acquisitions, giving a total increase of 3,077 dwellings. This is just below the 2008/09 total new build affordable dwellings and those acquired through transfers and acquisitions at 3,253. During 2009/10, 259 student dwellings were completed in Nottingham and 37 in Leicester. In 2009, 57 per cent of new dwellings in the East Midlands were built on previously developed land (a fall of 11 percentage points from the previous year) which increases to 61 per cent if conversions are included. These figures are lower than the national levels of 77 and 80 per cent respectively. In 2009/10, 84.4 per cent of dwellings on sites with 10 or more completions were at a density of 30 or more dwellings per hectare. This is slightly higher than the 2008/09 figure of 82.2 per cent. Of those local authorities who could provide a breakdown of housing completions by size for 2009/10, the largest proportion of flats (67.3 per cent) were 2 bedroom and the largest proportion of housing (43.7 per cent) was 3 bedroom. These proportions were virtually unchanged from the previous year’s figures for 2 bedroom flats and 3 bedroom houses (67 per cent and 41 per cent respectively). 2009/10 was the second year local authorities were asked for the number of sites and the number of dwellings assessed against the Code for Sustainable Homes. Only three local authorities were able to provide data. Bolsover District Council reported 2 sites (287 dwellings) meeting Code Level 3; South Holland District reported 6 sites (71 dwellings) meeting Code Level 3 and Leicester City reported 7 Sites (43 dwellings) also meeting Code Level 3. As with the Code for Sustainable Homes only a minority of local authorities could provide data on Building for Life. Out of the 8 authorities who provided returns in 2009/10, 1,358 dwellings were assessed as poor (24 sites), 607 as average (13 sites), 157 as good (4 sites) and 0 as very good. The East Midlands in 2009/10 4 52 per cent of vacant property in the region has been empty for 6 months or more (1.5 per cent of total stock). This equates to some 30,176 properties in the region. Of these, the highest total number are in the Leicester and Leicestershire HMA (6,913 properties) whereas in percentage terms Peak Dales HMA have recorded almost all (99.7 per cent) empty properties as being long term vacant. A total of 72 new permanent pitches for gypsies and travellers and 14 new transit pitches were provided in 2009/10 (seven local authorities were unable to provide data) bringing the total number of pitches in the region up to 932 (745 permanent and 187 transit). This compares with 34 new permanent pitches provided in 2008/09 (no new transit pitches were provided). 248 gypsy and traveller caravans were recorded on unauthorised sites in 2009/10 (9 local authorities did not provide figures). This can be broadly compared with 403 ‘unauthorised encampments’ recorded in 2008/09. The East Midlands had a total area of 78,930 ha of Green Belt at 31 March 2010. This was unchanged since 31 March 2009. This represents some 4.8 per cent of the England total. In terms of new households, the East Midlands, along with the East, Yorkshire and The Humber and South West regions, are all projected to grow by at least 29 per cent from 2008 to 2033. All regions, except the North East and West Midlands, are projected to grow by at least 20,000 households per year on average (22,000 in the East Midlands). The relative number of households in each region remains similar between 2008 and 2033. In 2009, the average house price in the East Midlands was £172,415, a -7.7 per cent average annual percentage change from 2008. The decrease on this measure is identical to the national average percentage change. Up until 2008, house prices in the East Midlands increased broadly in line with the national trend, although remain consistently lower than the English mean (by around 28 per cent each year). However, house prices in the East Midlands have remained consistently higher than the means for Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and North West. In the East Midlands, property sales fell from 102,838 properties in 2007 to 51,549 in 2009. In 2006, the average value for new mortgage loans written in the East Midlands was estimated to be £113,746, compared to £138,407 in the UK. This increased to £121,338 in 2007 in the East Midlands, before falling to £117,548 in 2008 and £108,860 in 2009. This represents a decline of -10.3 per cent between 2007 and 2009, a steeper fall than the -8.9 per cent experienced nationally. In the mid 1990s around half of all mortgages were to first time buyers. This had dropped to around 43 per cent in the East Midlands and nationally by 2000. By 2008 this had further dropped to less than 35 per cent in the region, slightly below the national figure of 35.2 per cent for 2008 and 2009. Data comparing lower quartile house prices and lower quartile earnings shows that although affordability ratios fell in the East Midlands in 2008 and 2009 they began to rise again in 2010 and remain historically high. In 2010 the lower quartile house prices in the East Midlands were 5.83 times lower quartile earnings. The number of households accepted by local authorities in the region as homeless has fallen steadily from 9,590 (or 1.7 per 1,000 households) in 2003/04 to 3,060 in 2009/10. Similar declines have been The East Midlands in 2009/10 5 seen in most other regions. The East Midlands had 7.6 per cent of homeless households in England in 2009/10. In 2008 about 19.2 per cent or nearly one in five of East Midlands’ households lived in fuel poverty, which is equivalent to 359,000 households. To put this in context with other regions, fuel poverty is most prevalent in the West Midlands and North East where 22.5 per cent and 21.2 per cent of households respectively were classified as being in fuel poverty. In absolute terms, the highest number of households in fuel poverty was in the North West at 531,000 households. The proportion of households in fuel poverty was the lowest in London and in the South East at 10.8 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively. Economy In terms of regional economic performance in 2009 to 2010, the vast majority of the key indicators (GVA, numbers employed, business start-ups, business confidence, development of employment, retail and leisure land) are all moving in the wrong direction or away from target in this time of economic uncertainty.